Two Northeastern University alumni, Josh Belinsky, DMSB'17, and Manny Lubin, CAMD'15, turned their love of chocolate milk into a business. Belinsky and Lubin founded Slate this past June, creating a chocolate milk that is lower in sugars, higher in protein, and features packaging geared toward adults.
“We're giving milk a clean slate,” said Lubin.
The company uses ultrafiltration to remove some of the natural sugars and water found in milk without removing any protein. Slate milk has 50 percent more protein than whole milk and 50 percent less sugar than skim milk.
Lubin and Belinsky recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the initial production of three flavors: classic chocolate, dark chocolate, and mocha flip. The company was awarded $10,000 from IDEA, Northeastern's student-run venture accelerator, which will be used to fund social media and marketing campaigns.
Scout, a Northeastern student-led design studio is helping the company refine its website, packaging and logo.
Twenty-five students in Assistant Professor of Marketing Keith Smith's course are conducting market research for Slate this semester.
“They are studying our potential consumers and trying to help fill in the blanks in a variety of ways,” Belinsky says.